This is the typical throwaway line used by liberals when it's pointed out that Israel should stop doing war crimes, but I'm not sure what it's trying to convey.
Rights are always a tricky abstraction, doubly so at the international level, so I'm not sure what asserting the existence of some right is supposed to do. Israel obviously has the capability to defend itself1, so what good is asserting some intangible right to do so? Are they actually saying "We should not stop Israel from doing what it wants to defend itself"? I imagine even they would object to Israel use of sarin or nuclear weapons, so I don't think that's what they mean. Is it "Israel should be given wide but not unlimited latitude by the US to respond as it sees fit"? Cause if that's what they mean, the easy answer is "not with our tax dollars".
Anyway this just seems like one of those empty pat expressions used during arguments I hate.
- When they aren't busy doing racialist dismissiveness of Palestinian military capability.
The funny thing is, according to the UN's ICJ, it doesn't have a right to defend itself (in the occupied palestinian territories).
Another hexbearianistite (can't remember who, sorry) mentioned the 2004 ICJ advisory that was regarding Israel building a wall on the green line, which is the border decided at the 1949 armistice (and often referred to as the 1967 or pre-1967 border). Here they agreed that the wall was illegal, due to quite a few reasons: it restricts freedom of movement and self determination of Palestinians, it also went beyond the agreed green line and extended into Palestinian territories. Since then, Israel ignored the ruling and continued construction.
What I gather from this is that even the ICJ thinks that Israel is an occupying power, and does therefore not have the right to defend itself.